"La Alborada" & Festival of Saint Michael

Celebrated the entire weekend following Sept. 29th.

Alborada means "dawn" in Spanish, but you'll have to get up before dawn if you want to witness the beginning of this celebration. Actually, you might as well stay up all night, because the festivities start around 3 a.m. on Saturday. Get thee to San Francisco street, where you can follow the mojigangas (those giant paper maché puppets) into the Jardin. From there, you will witness a fireworks show symbolizing the battle between Saint Michael and Lucifer, in which Lucifer loses and goes to hell.

Go home and take a nap, because you'll want to come back for the Voladores, the "Fliers" who swing from unbelievable heights while attached to a pole (if you need a visual on this, go here.). Then, late Saturday afternoon, traditional dancers from all over Mexico will enter the Jardin in stunning costumes during the "Entrance of the Flowers" (Entrada de Los Xúchiles.) For a preview of this procession, go here.

More festivities of this sort continue through Sunday night of this weekend.